Wilder KOs Szpilka; Martin stops Glazkov

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) unleashed a monstrous right hand in the 9th round to knock his opponent Artur Szpilka (20-2, 15 KOs) completely out on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Wilder’s right hand ended the show in the 9th round in what was a very closely contested match. The fight was stopped at 2:24 of round nine.

Szpilka, 26, never knew what hit him when he was tagged by Wilder’s right hand in the 9th. The punch sent Szpilka down on his back on the canvas. He didn’t stir for several moments after the KO. The ringside medical staff then checked on Szpilka and quickly took him out of the ring on a stretcher.

Wilder was ahead at the time of the stoppage by the scores of 78-74, 78-74, and 77-75.

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The co-feature bout saw undefeated Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs) defeat No.1 IBF Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov (21-1-1, 13 KOs) by a 3rd round stoppage to win the IBF heavyweight title. The fight was stopped because of Glazkov injuring his right knee. The referee gave Glazkov a chance to continue fighting after he hurt his knee, but he shook his head and told him that he couldn’t continue.

Neither fighter was dominating and it was still a match that was up for grabs at the time Glazkov injured his right knee. He slipped on the canvas twice in the 3rd. The referee counted the second slip as a knockdown, but no actual punch landed. Glazkov’s knee gave out from under him causing him to hit the canvas. There were reports that Glazkov injured his right ACL in the round. The fight was stopped at 1:50 of the round.